Monday, October 30, 2017

European Western Comic Books ~ Claire DeWitt




The civil war is over, but the corpses are still piling up. Horror is prevalent in the American South and in the middle of it is head-hunter Claire DeWitt. The new Western Horror comic strip Claire DeWitt has just released the first of a three part series. Soon after the American Civil War, bounty hunters like Claire DeWitt and her partner Gerd, hunt for the outlaw Jonah Falk. DeWitt wants revenge for what Falk has done to her in the past. The South part of America is a dangerous area of ​​activity, because monsters are making a violent hunt for man. These monsters can take human shapes and one of them looks like two drops of water on Claire's deceased sister.

 
Claire who wants to bring the bandit Jonah Falk down, and collect the $500.00 reward. But things are not going as planned, and if the whole shootings are not enough, the people suddenly turn into zombies, who do not want to leave anyone alone. Just an innocent young girl and a moment later she tears the backbone from a cowboy. Zombies, mutants, monsters .... people do not really know what a devil's breed they are dealing with here. But one thing is certain, it is a tough struggle to survive, sometimes against their own family. Until death separates us so to speak. The title fits like a fist in the eye and the pictures, along with the story are consistently accomplished. A nightmare in the Wild West. Lots of blood, the naked horror and well-thought-out figures. The genres of mixing Western and horror is a clever move, which we have already seen on film and TV.

The Dutch artists slash-writer Willem Ritstier and Fred de Heij, who have already worked together in various comic magazines, have smelled the roast and armed themselves with spirit and pen and given us the hard-hitting fiancée Claire DeWitt. As a friend of pulpy, bloody stories with proper sensitivity for the right pictures one can thank them.


Published by Splitter Verlag 2014 - 2017
72 pages
Drawn by Fred de Heij
Written by William Ritstier


Fred de Heij was born in Amsterdam, The Netherlands on February 21, 1960. De Heij graduated in 1983 at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam (1978-1983). After his studies, he worked for a while as an illustrator of children's books. Around 1990, De Heij started working for the girl’s magazine Tina. There he became a cartoon illustrator. At that time, he made his own stamp magazine Filo. In 1998 De Heij started painting portraits, models and still-life’s. The illustrations and comics disappeared temporarily into the background.

Fred de Heij picked up with the comics again in 2005 when he was asked to draw a horror strip. Then there were more strips. Fred de Heij is next to his painting, illustrating children's books and the comic book, also known for his satirical, erotic and violent work. Certainly, once a year, he writes the text for a comic book.

He made illustrations for Bolke de Beer and comic strips as well as short and long stories for Tina (VOC strip The Zeemeeuw and Fanny), Taptoe (the Marloes strip, Patty Klein's text), Donald Duck, Tintin, Continued, Penthouse , Incognito and Penthouse Comic (under the Emse pseudonym Jansen).







No comments:

Post a Comment